Tag: Kevin Bright

New Energy Benchmarking Program Available to Rochester Businesses

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At the close of 2018, Rochester, Minnesota was awarded the state’s first LEED Gold City designation by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in recognition of the City’s effort to achieve significant municipal sustainability and resiliency goals. Kevin Bright, energy and sustainability director for the Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency (DMC EDA) and City of Rochester is excited for the next chapter, which includes a new voluntary energy benchmarking program for Rochester businesses.

The Rochester Energy Benchmarking Program provides a platform for Rochester business and building owners to track their energy use and identify ways to save money on utility bills.

“The creation of the benchmarking program is an important first step to help businesses identify ways to reduce their operating costs by saving energy,” says Bright.

On April 24, 2019, the Benchmarking program will host a training session for interested organizations at Rochester City Hall in Room 104 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. This session will help organizations create and efficiently complete a benchmarking profile which is the core of participation in the program.

Another educational resource for Rochester businesses and the public is the DMC EDA’s monthly sustainability series, now in its second year. The series, in partnership with the USGBC, is held the second Wednesday of each month at the Rochester Public Library from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. and is free to attend.

Going for Gold: Rochester named Minnesota’s first LEED Gold City

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Energy and Sustainability Director Kevin Bright

Rochester, Minnesota was recently recognized as the state’s first LEED Gold city by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The honor came as a result of the City’s effort to achieve significant municipal sustainability and resiliency goals.

LEED – or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – certification was created by the USGBC and is a globally-recognized green building rating system. It provides a framework to create healthy, efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.

Bright Ideas: The Summer Sustainability Series

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Over the past six months, the Destination Medical Center (DMC) monthly sustainability speaker series has generated enthusiasm, sparked new ideas, and inspired attendees to make changes that better the environment and our community.

Kevin Bright

DMC’s Energy and Sustainability Director Kevin Bright is pleased with the response to the series thus far. “Attendance and the email list has been steadily growing organically since December,” he says. “It’s been rewarding to see community members not only get behind these efforts but take an active role in Rochester’s environmental future.”

This summer, the sustainability series will continue with three diverse topics to further the community-wide conversation.

Bright Ideas for Spring

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Kevin Bright

With spring officially underway, warmer days are on the horizon! With those temperature changes come some additional options on the horizon: walk or bike to work, create a home garden, or attend some local events going on in Rochester moving forward.

Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency and City of Rochester’s Energy and Sustainability Director Kevin Bright offers seven “Bright Ideas” to help you save energy as we head into spring and summer. Hopefully, you are able to find one or more of these ideas that may be applicable to your commute, home, or day-to-day activities.

“Bright Ideas” for the New Year

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Kevin Bright

2018 is just around the corner. And whether you see New Year’s Day as an arbitrary date or resolve to undo all the bad habits you’ve developed during 2017, the New Year presents an opportunity for each of us to take inventory of our lives – and our impact on the environment.

DMC Economic Development Agency Energy and Sustainability Director Kevin Bright shares some simple ways to live more sustainably in the coming year.

Introducing the DMC Sustainability Series

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Sustainable development is essential for economic growth and a key priority of the DMC initiative. Improving community health, exploring alternative modes of transportation, and reducing consumption of water, waste, energy, and emissions are just a few of the goals outlined in the DMC plan.

But these goals cannot be achieved by a single person or organization. To achieve a sustainable future for America’s City for Health, it will take an informed and engaged community working together.

DMC is launching a monthly speaker series to help initiate a community-wide conversation about sustainability.

Sustainability in the DMC District

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Sustainability is an increasingly hot topic in community development and construction, but it’s hardly a new concept. One of DMC’s guiding principles is for the initiative to be a model for sustainability that will strive to implement ecological urban design and building practices to improve and enhance the environment and quality of life.

To help achieve this goal, DMC and the City of Rochester hired Kevin Bright as a shared Sustainability Director to support the community’s efforts to go green. The position is funded by a two-year McKnight Foundation grant.